We Must Defend Ourselves Against Killer Herdsmen- Ortom Tells Benue People

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has charged his people to stand up and defend themselves against the killer herdsmen terrorizing them in the State.

The Governor spoke during a funeral rite in honour of Mama Enenu Ebute, mother of Justice Mary Abounu, wife of the Benue State Deputy Governor, where he told his people to resort to all safety means to protect themselves against senseless killings.

He said: “At the moment we are facing a serious food crisis since our farmers can no longer go to the farms to cultivate their crops because they are being killed by these terrorists. “We have had enough of this, we cannot continue to cry, and we must all defend ourselves. You cannot continue to sit in your homes and allow these people to come in and kill you.”

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Recall Governor Ortom has a no-nonsense attitude as he reported a journalist at the State house after he sought for clarification after the journalist accused him of being responsible for the Bonta and Ukpete crisis in Konshisha and Oju Local Government Areas, LGAs.

He said: “We appreciate the freedom of the press but we must respect decorum. We appreciate constructive criticism and superior arguments over my policies and programmes. An incident occurred last week where I reported one of our own, Odeh to the police. I need to mention it today more so that we are talking about press freedom week.

“For me, the press should be allowed to operate just like the arms of government. They should also have their freedom but it should not be at the detriment of the rule of law. I am somebody who respects the rule of law. I am in a democratically elected government where there is freedom of expression and association but it must be within the rule of law. Anything outside that is not the right thing to do.